Holiday Entertaining: Scrambled Eggs, Caviar, Crème Fraîche

Holiday Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Caviar, Crème Fraîche

Holiday Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs, Caviar, Crème Fraîche, Chives

Last but not least in a series of 4 Holiday Entertaining Dishes, scrambled eggs with caviar is a wonderfully extravagant way to celebrate Christmas morning or New Year’s Day brunch.

Served in charming mini Lodge cast iron skillets, this breakfast is simultaneously elegant and rustic. Fluffy scrambled eggs paired with puffed popovers and butter are irresistible, but for the ultimate breakfast experience, add creamy-tangy crème fraîche and burst-in-the-mouth pearls of rich-brown nutty ossetra caviar .

Holiday Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Caviar, Crème Fraîche, Chives

Holiday Entertaining Series

Holiday Entertaining: Oysters with Caviar

Hors d’oeuvre: Oysters, Ossetra Caviar, Crème Fraîche (here)

Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies, Passionfruit, Pistachios

First Course: Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies (here)

Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar

Holiday Side Dish: Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar (here)

Scrambled Eggs and Caviar Recipe

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Holiday Entertaining: Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar

Holiday Entertaining: Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar

Holiday Entertaining
Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar

More caviar? Yep, ’tis the season after all! Asparagus with Petrossian Ossetra Caviar is served as a fancy side dish to a standing prime rib roast of beef for a very special holiday meal.

The briny dark brown eggs create a striking presentation when draped over bright green asparagus with a pale yellow sauce. Silky hollandaise and crunchy roe make for an exquisite contrast of textures. The subtle flavor of the sea plays well with the earthy elegant taste of the asparagus. It’s an extraordinary dish – perfect for Hanukkah, Christmas, or New Year’s Eve.

Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar Recipe

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Holiday Entertaining: Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies

Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies, Passionfruit, Pistachios

Whole Duck Foie Gras
Warm Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies
Passionfruit & Pistachios

The second in a series of four impressive Holiday Entertaining dishes, here luxurious Whole Duck Foie Gras is the shining star. Whole duck liver that has been poached in a bouillon flavored with authentic Périgordian seasonings has a velvety texture and is an extravagant delight for the palate.

Warm-from-the-oven palmier cookies are simultaneously sweet and salty. Each bite of foie gras and palmier cookie, composed with a small spoonful of tart tropical passionfruit and a sprinkle of pistachio nuts, is a melt-in-the-mouth experience of immeasurable pleasure.

Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies, Passionfruit, Pistachios

Holiday Entertaining: Oysters with Caviar

Holiday Entertaining Series

Hors d’oeuvre: Oysters, Ossetra Caviar, Crème Fraîche (here)

First Course: Foie Gras with Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies

Holiday Side: Asparagus, Hollandaise, Caviar (here)

Holiday Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Chives, Caviar, Crème Fraîche (here)

How to Make Sweet & Salty Palmier Cookies

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Holiday Entertaining: Oysters and Caviar

Holiday Entertaining: Oysters with Caviar

Holiday Entertaining
Oysters and Caviar

For the holiday season we’re serving a most thrilling luxury, the world’s most sublime delicacy – the roe of a mature sturgeon!

It’s a connoisseur’s dream – a fresh shucked oyster topped with crème fraîche and a generous dollop of royal ossetra caviar.

Elegant jewel-like eggs with that fabulous, famous burst of the sea sit atop a crisp, firm-textured bivalve with a sweet aftertaste that sparkles with salinity. Crème fraîche adds a nuanced enhancement to the roe with its creamy tang. Pulling out all the stops, this opulence-in-a-shell is paired with Champagne to complement the caviar’s briny zest.

Exquisitely rich, gloriously complex, utterly delectable. Happy Holidays, my friends!

Holiday Entertaining: Oysters with Caviar

Oysters and Caviar

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Got Frozen Salmon? Make This.

Smoky Salmon Stew
Smoky Salmon Stew with Tomato, Potato, and Fennel

We live in Southern California, where we can walk to the docks and pick up local fresh fish arriving by the hour. Our markets are full of fresh fish that is flown in daily from around the world. So, why buy frozen fish?

  1. Convenience of having protein in the freezer, on hand, ready to thaw.
  2. Value where frozen is typically 20 to 25% less per pound than fresh.
  3. Availability when fresh fish is not in season, frozen is always there.
  4. Taste and texture are not sacrificed, especially in a recipe like this stew.

The frozen farm-raised Atlantic salmon comes from Whole Foods Market where they source from responsibly managed fish farms that aim to help maintain sustainable seafood supplies. Their salmon are raised in carefully monitored, low-density pens and tanks without antibiotics, pesticides or added growth hormones.

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart Living. For a cold weather meal, I loved the idea of a smoky fish stew and added another layer of smoky heat with Korean chili threads (shilgochu). They are finely-sliced dried chilis that are reddish brown in color with smoky red pepper and fruity flavors, and a medium degree of heat. Along with fennel fronds, the chili threads add a savory embellishment to the final presentation.

Smoky Salmon Stew Recipe

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